"Gentle Schooling" Is it working?

[OneBadKitty]

Behaviour seems to be getting worse and worse in my school. We are moving towards a system where children are encouraged to self regulate. We have a no raised voice policy, a sensory room to go to, the rewards and consequences system is virtually defunct now.

But behaviour is worse. Children just now refuse to do as they are asked because nothing happens, SEN children are lashing out at others with no action, SLT are reluctant to tell parents about incidents, and the most that happens is they get taken out for 10 minutes to play with a sensory toys or a nice chat with a member of SLT.

We're similar. I certainly use a very stern voice when children have failed to follow an instruction given 2 or 3 times like to sit back down or open their book. I'm not sure if that fits with our policy. Sometimes children are just pushing the boundaries and there's nothing deeper to it than that - it's not a 'behaviour is communication' situation. But I have concerns about us going too far down the gentle route because it doesn't take long for behaviour to really start to slip.

I personally think it's rubbish.

As a teacher and parent of 2 boys (who are now adults) I believe children need routine, clear rules and boundaries and bad behaviour resulting in a consequence.

Education isn't what it was.

It's destroying schools and it's destroying society. It's not an opinion. As you say, behaviour is worse. I don't know who, or what is forcing this lack of consequences approach, but it isn't working. The kids just think they can get away with bad behaviour!!! And they do, so they keep doing it!!!

Headteachers, authority, the Police whoever it may be are scared of violent and aggressive parents, scared of the repercussions, scared of addressing behaviour properly so they pretend that you can do it by being nice and smiley. Kids, gangs, knives you name it are running amok. And the response is to have a friendly chat. It's bonkers.

It’s total bollocks and one of the main reasons I quit.

If doctors were prescribing medication and the patient was getting worse they wouldn't declare the treatment an amazing success and carry on.

4 more years to retirement...

Oh and sick of hearing the phrase 'All behaviour is communication.'

No, it is definitely not working. We have been seeing and saying the same. I don’t think it works for the kids, they feel insecure and confused without clear boundaries. I don’t think it works for the support staff as they get hurt and abused. I don’t see how it works for SLT to use their valuable experience to sit with a child colouring and having a biscuit.

The next SLT member who barely teaches who tells me this may get a smack in the mouth. Because after all, I'd definitely be communicating something.

2 words
conscious discipline
by any chance ?

I worked in a school which had had significant behaviour issues by the time the old head left. A new member of SLT took over behaviour - firm, strict boundaries (very clear rules around behaviour expectations and consequences, two warnings and you're out, truancy and you're out, misbehaviour in interal exclusion and you're excluded from school until you can behave in internal exclusion, any walking off from on call and you're excluded, a team of 4-5 members of staff on call every lesson, members of staff hired to supervise). The behaviour turned around within 2 weeks and we were able to just teach.

Then the new head took issue with the behaviour lead after a term, he left and we went fully restorative, with the onus placed on teachers to make phone calls about every removal, every detention, and to attend every conversation, tracked. Some children had "no consequences" written into their behaviour plans; they were not allowed to be sanctioned at all. Behaviour seriously deteriorated again and staff left in droves.

The school I work in now does a weird hybrid model with high expectations of students and expected sanctions for lack of compliance, but also a fully restorative, and it does not work, and behaviour is getting worse.

Kids need firm boundaries. Staff need firm SLT support, especially when confronted with "not my child" parents.

Restorative approaches generate an unworkable amount of workload and actively discourage honesty in recording behaviour (because of the expected follow-up). Teachers are not therapists and the trauma-informed way of working is in conflict with the needs of the many other children who suffer from the behaviours some of their peers display.

I don't know who, or what is forcing this lack of consequences approach

Paul bloody Dix!!!

But Headteachers don't have to take what he says and apply it. They could have their own minds and ignore him. But no, they implement these stupid ideas which are making behaviour atrocious rather than having their own minds. Terrible leadership in many schools.

I agree it's a disaster

The school I work in now does a weird hybrid model with high expectations of students and expected sanctions for lack of compliance, but also a fully restorative, and it does not work, and behaviour is getting worse.

Mine too! Does my head in! And so many teachers interpret this as you have to warn twice before doing anything too. I read on our system that someone had issues a student a warning for slapping anotehr student in the face ! Nothing seems spontaneous or flexible any more. Everting is rigid and scripted.

I must say I hold both ends responsible for this - the zero tolerance with its macho obsessions with rules, and logging stuff and systems and the gentle brigade with their refusal to ever be really just annoyed or to issue a good old fashioned bollocking and move on.

I work in a school that was judged good. Behaviour was an area for improvement so they brought in Paul Dix. It got worse and worse and since September we've had a record number of children taken off roll because of bullying, increase in fights, or just because if behaviour in class. Interestingly, their parents are putting them in the no-nonesense academy (the type where there are no displays, if the forget their planner it's a detention etc). Our academy leader paid for us to undergo a mocksted with actual ofsted inspectors as we are due and we got RI for behaviour and were told if they counted student voice, we could be looking at inadequate.

I believe children need routine, clear rules and boundaries and bad behaviour resulting in a consequence.

I think this as well. I think lot of the children & young people struggling with anxiety are desperate for the adults around them to take charge, get boundaries in place and help them feel safe.

I’ve never been as close to quitting as when my school went Paul Dix. Behaviour was awful, but also workload around behaviour was awful. Teachers were working flat out trying to keep disruptive kids from ruining lessons that they weren’t allowed to send them out of and spending all breaks and lunchtimes having ‘restorative conversations’ with kids who didn’t give a shit.

Centralised behaviour systems are the way forward. If implementing the behaviour management system correctly falls to teachers with no back-up and creates extra workload every time they issue a sanction, it will fail.

Restorative practice is an excellent approach for the children who don't actually need a behaviour system. If all they ever do is the odd foot wrong here and there, usually without intent or malice, then a little chat is all it takes to correct it.

For anyone else, restorative practice is a blank cheque to do what you want, when you want, how you want and never have to worry about it having any real consequences for you.

The best part for some SLTs, however, is that a Paul Dix style approach shifts the blame for poor behaviour completely away from leadership and on to the teachers who "just aren't doing it properly".

To be fair to Dix, I have read his book and he suggests many things. The porblem is , most schools wo sue him have picked out the fluffy elements and completely ignored the stuff he writes about routines and clear rules and regs. He is definitely not anti having rules or pro chaos. I'm not sure words like 'gentle' actually are in his book. I think some MN teachers have had training from him, though, and iirc it got their backs up.

The 'all behaviour is communication' stuff comes from the 'trauma informed practice' crew who believe in Dix's ideas about restoration but seem to reject all discipline and think we have zillions of hours available to counsel and coach each child.

My school has scrapped the traffic light behaviour system and now does the zones of regulation approach but all teachers and TAs are really struggling with it due to behaviour really deteriorating since.

I have had 6 year olds smash up my classroom, throw every chair and rip up every book.

I’ve had very young children persistently swearing, spitting and disrupting my lessons and in all cases their parents push back against me. SLT just respond by sending staff on behaviour management courses. 🙄

I have since decided to just engage my common sense and ask children to leave the room and stand outside the door/ kept kids in at break/ remove their golden time/ make them work on tables alone and it’s been miraculous. Perfectly well behaved classes of children with whom I enjoy good relationships and who are all reaching their potential.

If SLT want rid of me because of the above, I will leave happily knowing that I can’t be gaslit into submission to this little army of rude dictatorial children.

I have had 6 year olds smash up my classroom, throw every chair and rip up every book.

I think you meant to say they became disregulated.

Would a movebreak help?

And we are seeing this sort of violence on our streets. Whoever is implementing this regulation, restorative chats approach, is turning our country into a lawless state. So, after this implementation, you have 6 year olds turning violent and smashing up the classroom, because of the lack of consequences. I am not surprised.

If you are a Headteacher reading this on here, allowing this to happen, shame on you for destroying the education of our children, and turning society into the lawless state it is today. I work in one of the few schools, where my Headteacher has stuck to his guns, and has said NO NO NO to this utter nonsense. We still shout, we still have the equivalent of the sad face, children lose their break times as a punishment and they are told off. The behaviour is excellent. They know there is a consequence. I am so frustrated that so many schools are going soft when it clearly doesn't work.

Oh yes, not one member of SLT even ventured down to my classroom once throughout the entire year of me recording his behaviour outbursts on our system.

A year of his whole class being traumatised by his violent outbursts and having to walk on eggshells so as not to make him angry was just dealt with by my line manager rewarding him with biscuits, stickers, movement breaks and little cards he could whip out to announce that he wouldn’t be participating in whichever lesson he chose. (sometimes resulting in the whole class not being able to go to Forest School on their allocated day due to him refusing).

My mental health took a beating that year because my superiors just cocked their heads to one side and kindly reminded me that we needed to keep this child’s well-being at the centre of our minds, and I felt I’d let his peers down by allowing one child to call the shots all year.

I have since concluded that I’d rather lose my job than bow down to nonsensical behaviour management advice from leaders who don’t lead and parents who don’t parent. I won’t allow any of this modern day tosh turn me into a teacher who can’t teach.